David Letterman’s sex extortion revelations are turning a bit player on the “Late Show” into a national media figure. So who is Stephanie Birkitt, the woman whose name has surfaced in the media frenzy surrounding the plot to extort the talk show host for $2 million? Here’s what’s floating around the Web.

Birkitt was born in Plymouth, New Hampshire and graduated from Wake Forest University in 1997. She interned at the “Late Show” in 1996, then, after a brief stint at 48 Hours (where alleged Letterman extortioner and Birkitt boyfriend Robert “Joe” Halderman worked) she joined the “Late Show.” Birkitt’s role on the show was mainly as a comic foil in sketches like “Know Your Current Events,” where she called Letterman “Mr. Carney.” She developed a sexual relationship with Letterman that, according to TMZ, ended in 2003 — which means before his son was born.

A spokesman for Worldwide Pants, Mr. Letterman’s production company, said Ms. Birkitt, an employee of the company, couldn’t be reached. He declined to comment on whether she had had a sexual relationship with Mr. Letterman or whether she is or was Mr. Halderman’s girlfriend.

An interview Birkitt did with the Fort Worth Star Telegram in 2004 is more revealing. Read in hindsight, the story, titled “Letterman Aide is Dave’s Main Tease” — is a sort of road map to their alleged affair.

Birkitt says she met Letterman accidentally when he called the office where she was working and wanted somebody to tape an episode of MTV’s “Jackass” for him. They soon “developed a phone rapport,” and Letterman and Birkitt would talk once or twice a week, mainly about her weekends. “I would tell funny stories about my weekend or what he thought were funny stories and I thought were normal.”

When asked what Letterman was like, Birkitt gushed:

“And he’s just playful. We play catch sometimes in the office, and we all go to screenings together. We eat food together, we sit around and watch TV together and goof on people. And he teases me in real life, too, but I give it back a lot more in real life.” Read More »

About Speakeasy

Speakeasy is a blog covering media, entertainment, celebrity and the arts. The publication is produced by Barbara Chai and Jonathan Welsh with contributions from the Wall Street Journal staff and others. Write to us at speakeasy@wsj.com or follow us on Twitter at @WSJSpeakeasy or individually @barbarachai.